Sally Fitzgibbons has taken the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach for the second consecutive year, beating four-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in the final.

The waves were four-to-five foot offshore at Bells Beach for the final day of competition. The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach is one of the most prestigious events on the women’s professional world tour, and of special importance to Australians who want to ring the bell in front of family and friends.

“I’m speechless,” Fitzgibbons said. “I’m so pumped. That was tough. Bells went to sleep on both of us and it got real tactical at the end. Steph (Gilmore) only needed a small score and I just hung on for dear life. That wave she took at the end looked so small and I had a feeling there was going to be another set, but there wasn’t. I just can’t believe I won Bells two years in a row!”

Gilmore was disappointed to come away with a second place finish, but was congratulatory of Fitzgibbon’s win.

“I’m a little bit tired but feeling good,” Gilmore said. “I felt like I was surfing pretty well and knew it was going to be a hard road. I thought I was consistently putting things together and surfing well and then I came up against a brick wall in Sally (Fitzgibbons). It was a good Final and Sally deserved this win and she’s great for women’s surfing. Congrats to her.”

The ladies will meet in Taranaki New Zealand for the TSB Bank NZ Surf Festival April 11-15th.

AAP Image/ASP: Kirstin Scholtz

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About Jenna Goldberg

Jenna Goldberg is a contributor of Snow.Skate.Surf.Style. She grew up snowboarding in Northern California and made her own pilgrimage to Hawaii where she studied journalism and surfed. Currently based in San Diego, California Jenna is either catching waves or snowboarding the local mountains, and always supporting women in action sports.